A funny game this. Against the division’s bottom side, still to rack up their first point of the season, Cambridge South 3rds were confident of getting a result to put a halt to their nascent losing streak. More important though was the performance, with South looking to put away the woolly decision-making (and finishing) that had dogged their previous two showings.

The game started brightly enough for the visitors. An attack straight from the push back saw Tom South, anchoring the play in the centre of midfield, surge into the D to find himself directly in front of goal with time to size up his shot: 1-0 to South with barely 45 seconds on the clock.

Buoyed by their first goal in five weeks, South began to relax a little and look more confident in possession. Benjie Groom, having played three games for the club and lost all of them, was making his final appearance before returning to Grantham and had been moved to right back to take best advantage of his instinct to get forward. Jan meanwhile was capably filling the sweeper role, his clear calls and solid play at the back creating a good defensive platform for the team. Tom, Nick Venner and Stu Creed were a formidable midfield combination and, making his debut leading the line for the 3rds this season, Paul South was making canny runs to move the defence around and create space for runners from deep.

Despite the positive notes, some of the old failings remained present: the opposition keeper still seemed to exert a magnetic effect on crosses, too many of which were aimed at him rather than pulled deeper towards the P spot. The temptation to try wind-ups for big hits through a crowd in the D rather than simple slips to teammates in space or quick flicks or pushes on goal was allowing too many shooting opportunities to be closed down before they could be taken.

As South searched for the additional goals to build a solid lead, Ely reminded their opponents that they still posed a threat, particularly on the break. Their pacy centre forward was allowed to get goal side of his marker just inside the halfway line with the sweeper caught square, resulting in an unequal race between the striker and Neil, who was unable to overhaul his man but managed to put enough pressure on to make him take his shot at speed on the move, sending it wide of the South goal.

With the scare of an equaliser over, South finally managed to make their dominance count and two further goals were added from Paul South and Rupert Espley before half time. At the break, South felt they could build on their performance in the first half to put clear water between the sides in the second period.

This resolution proved easier to say than do, however. South were, again, in command but equally were, again, labouring to add to the scoreline. As against Newmarket and St Neots, short corners came and went to frustratingly little effect. One of the best opportunities of the half came when another run towards the D by Tom was met with Paul moving laterally away from goal, dragging his defender with him and opening space for Tom to run straight through on goal but unfortunately his shot failed to find its target.

After a period of mounting frustration, Paul broke the second half deadlock with his second goal before John Parker, whose effective deep crosses from the left wing had been a feature of the game, got his reward when he met a ball across the goal to get on the scoresheet himself.

The result was no longer in doubt and Benjie would be able to leave South with a win finally under his belt but one final frustration remained. With South having failed to make anything of their dozen or more short corners, a few minutes from time and with only their second or third short of the game, Ely pulled a goal back when a clean strike clipped Jan’s stick as he advanced off the line and deflected to hit an inch below the top of the backboard. The late concession led to a rather flat feeling as South’s victorious squad trooped off the pitch.

A marginally improved performance from the previous weeks’ debacles mollified by a significantly improved scoreline. The feeling persists though that the team is yet to get back to firing on all cylinders but encouraging signs are appearing and there remains a final opportunity to get it right before the winter break.